How to replenish some lost nutrients over time?

[Cuke]

Wow,that takes awhile to degrade.Do my plants need phosphorus?I don't think any stores near me sell soil test kits.

[stella1751]

At this stage of the season, they'll tell you whether they are phosphorus deficient. We had a few rainy days here, prompting massive growth all around. When CCR sings, "I want to know: Have you ever seen the rain?" my plants answer, "What's that?" One of my tomatoes jetted out a slash of slightly purple growth during this wet spell, so I gave him and his cronies a dose of Epsom Salts. He shouldn't be doing this, but I prepped the soil about nine weeks ago, and these Lemon Boys are producing like mad, so they might be running on empty when it comes to phosphorous.

Tomatoes and peppers will also suffer blossom end rot if they are low on phosporous. It's my understanding that it's all tied up with calcium, but I could be wrong.

I don't do my own soil tests, so I can't answer that question. I sent my soil into the University of Wyoming for testing. Funny, they wrote me back that my potassium is way too high and that I should be able to grow peas, beans, and carrots without trouble but to avoid other veggies unless I amended

[Cuke]

Yeah,my plants aren't really sick or anything (although my cukes are wilting since we don't have mulch down since we don't want to use the wood mulch).My cukes just aren't producing.

I thought BER was due to lack of calcium or too much nitrogen.

Besides the cost of postage,did you have to pay a fee for the Uni to test your soil?I don't live in your state so of course I'd have to send it to my own,but that's something to consider.

[stella1751]

Yeah, I had to pay a fee for the soil test. It was pretty pricey, too. I can't remember offhand how much it was, only that I thought it was quite high for an ostensibly public service.

I've always thought BER was a lack of calcium, which you can get from bonemeal. Is it caused by too much nitrogen too? Can anyone jump in on this? I hadn't heard this, but if it's true, it might answer some questions for me

[Cuke]

Hm,I really don't want to pay a high fee.I already bought a lot of stuff for the garden this year.

I found a topic under the tomato forum about BER.

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17337

There's probably others out there but this is the one I remember reading.

[applestar]

I remember HG saying the 10% milk spray can also provide a shot of calcium. It's an all around winner. I sometimes just WATER my garden with a hose-end tree sprayer filled with straight milk.

[stella1751]

I could probably mix it in a gallon jug at 10%. I remember rainbowgardener saying, in another posting, that yogurt was preferable to milk. That, however, was a posting on fungi. What do you think, Applestar? I'm secretly looking for additional calcium for my Lemon Boys, which are overproducing to the point of micronutrient depletion. (Some slightly purplish new growth has me concerned.)

[Cuke]

Thanks for posting the proportions again.I forgot what they were.So far I've only had a couple of tomatoes suffer from BER this year,so I need to use that milk soon.

[applestar]

Rainbowgardener has always mentioned that it should be organic milk. (After watching that Monsanto documentary video and the part about the rBGH -- blecch! I'm avoiding every form of conventional milk, including ice cream!) I've also used expired milk as well as whey (liquid that pools) from cottage cheese and sour cream and yogurt -- adjusting the proportion of water. I've used higher concentration on serious cases, and, if I didn't have enough for the amount of plants I wanted to spray *right now*, I've used more watery concentration as well, reasoning that it's better than none. I suspect that if you can get raw organic milk, it would be even more "live" but it's illegal in NJ.

Things have been wetter than usual here, and now the hot/muggy humid weather is here, but so far, everything has been responding well except for my Brown Rot plagued plum trees. I'm seriously thinking of cutting one of the 3 trees down and replacing it with something more useful. I'm tired of all the moldy/mummified fruits hanging on the trees and littering the ground.) -- I'll take this topic to the Fruit Trees Forum.

[freedhardwoods]

Yeah, I had to pay a fee for the soil test. It was pretty pricey, too. I can't remember offhand how much it was, only that I thought it was quite high for an ostensibly public service.

A lab here in Indiana has a basic and a complete test.

The Basic Test package includes organic matter, phosphorus, potassium,
calcium, magnesium, CEC, pH and lime index presented in graphic form.
Basic Test Plus Interpretations $15.00 (includes up to 3 interpretations)

The Complete Test package includes organic matter, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, CEC, pH, lime index, conductivity, boron, copper, iron, manganese, sulfur, and zinc presented in graphic form. Recommendations for nutrient rates and suggested fertilizer blends are included.
Complete Test Plus Interpretations $25.00 (includes up to 3 interpretations)

[Cuke]

I still buy conventional milk,we go through it fast and I honestly can't afford all those organic foods.

That's not too bad of a price for a soil test,maybe I should call around and see if any local university does soil tests.I don't remember ever having one so it'll be good.

And one last question hopefully.Does anyone have a website or is there a book that lists what nutrients veggies take and put in the soil?If so,maybe I could plan to do a hasty fall garden.